An Old Friend
by Nalu26
Summary: Lucy runs into her old friend Michael who used to comfort her when her father wasn't there for her. Now Lucy and Michael are closer than ever but Natsu has a feeling that Micheal isn't the person who he used to be. With appearances of Flare (From the grand magic games), is Natsu's gut feeling real or is it just jealously?
1. A Brown Box

**_It all started that one fateful morning, I woke up to the sound of snoring…_**

"NATSU HAPPY!" growled Lucy. She woke up noticing she was on the ground while Happy and Natsu peacefully slept on her bed. "AGHHHHHHH" she screamed to wake them.

"What's wrong with you Lucy can't you let a guy sleep" Natsu complained groggily

"Aye…." Happy agreed.

That was the last straw "Lucy KICK!" Lucy yelled as she kicked the two friends out her window and they flew so far the looked like a shooting star. With that Lucy decided to take a shower to calm her nerves. "Ahhh what a nice way to start a day" Lucy thought. She reached for her soap and instead grabbed and old box "Huh?" She wondered aloud "What's this" and that's when it struck her. She turned the box around and smiled at the familiar handwriting it said _ To: Lucy From: Michael._

Flash Back:

**_Little Lucy sat in the courtyard of her huge estate crying…._**

"Lucy what's wrong?!" A boy asked Lucy he ran up to her his expression filled with worry.

"Michael!" Lucy said ****through the tears "It's j-ju-just that my father forget it was my birthday" She started to sob hysterically " How could he forget his own daughter's birthday" Lucy moaned. "Don't worry" He said reassuringly "Your dad may have forgotten your birthday. But I haven't" Michael held out a dark brown box with an intricate beige design which spelt out a fancy L.

"Michael…" Lucy said at a loss of words " This is the sweetest thing anyone has ever done for me" Lucy marveled at the box. She looked up ginning ear to ear making the boy blush deeply.

Lucy entered the guild feeling nostalgic, more than anything she wanted to see Michael, but where would she look for him. I mean there's been a 7 year gap she thought there was no way she would be able to find him. "Maybe I should ask Erza, Gray and Natsu for help" She thought aloud. As she approached Erza the door shot open and Lucy gasped and fear shone in her eyes. She had hoped they would never ever cross paths again.


	2. Flare Vs Lucy

Lucy crawled behind the bar hoping that Flare wouldn't see her. After the grand magic games she didn't really want to face off with her. She wasn't really sure how she had nullified her magic but she did. She would never forget the embarrassment. And now Flare stood right there at the door of her guild. Before anyone could react Flare's hair extended and grabbed every one and tied them up with her hair.

"My hair has been upgraded," She announced " My hair can nullify you magic as long as my hair is holding you," she said proudly.

Everyone grumbled and tried to get out but it was useless even Elfman's strength was no match for Flare "Upgraded" hair.

"LET ME GOOOOOOO!" Natsu yelled.

"Oh no" Lucy thought, even Natsu was trapped was she the only one? Had Flare just happed to not notice her or is she ignoring her at that.

" Aww what pretty little girl" Flare said mockingly " Let me kill her," She announced.

"NOOOO" Alzack and Bisca yelled at once

"Asuka!" Lucy thought she couldn't just sit there so she whipped out her keys determined to keep her safe.

"Mama Papa " Asuka whimpered as her parents tried to untangle themselves. Just as the hair came towards Auska, Cancer was there and cut her hair into little strands. Lucy planted herself in front of Auska. " How dare you!" Lucy snapped. " First you barge into our guild, then you trap the members and try to attack a defenseless little girl"

"Lucy" Flare cooed, " It's been a while" She smiled as if greeting an old friend. Then her smiled became even creepier, strand caught on fire and placed it right next to Auska. " Make move and I'll kill her"

" You wouldn't dare!" Lucy replied, " Let go of everyone and we will have a fair completion," Lucy said. " Don't be such a coward" Flare's hair inched closer to Asuka and her hair covered her parents mouths. Lucy grimaced " What do you want!" She yelled.

"Revenge" Flare said " I was embarrassed because I almost lost to you, so now it's my turn to win"

Lucy wasn't really sure what she meant but she wanted to sound confident so she replied with a smirk " Give me your all" Lucy gasped as the hair grabbed her from under her and threw her across the bard breaking most of the bottles. She let go of Lucy.

"Get up" She ordered " Or I'll hurt the girl" Lucy stood up and Flare's hair threw her across the room. " I want to you scream, to beg for mercy' Flare smiled deviously.

"Let go of her!" Natsu yelled from the other side.

Lucy started to inch towards happy who was caught in her hair and pretended to be moving out of fear. Once she got close enough she cut the hair and yelled " Happy get Asuka out of here!"

"AYEEEEE!" Happy yelled grabbing Asuka and flew out.

"That's fine" Flare said confidently "I'll still beat you"

Lucy wasn't sure what to do. The first time they faced off Flare was strong and now she was stronger. She knew she didn't have much energy to keep the gates open for long. Then she remembered that Flare's hair was her strength. Without it she was weak. She grabbed her Fleuve d'étoiles and used to tie the ends of the hair together then she called for cancer.

"All right baby" Cancer said he snipped of the ends of the hair releasing all of her members.

Terrified Flare said, " I'll be going now, but this isn't the last you've seen of me" she ran out of the guild and just as Natsu was about to run after her. Lucy stopped him.

'Natsu she's not worth it!" Lucy said

"NO!" He argued, " She can't mess with Fairy Tail and get away with it" Natsu argued back

" Are you trying to find trouble Natsu"? Lucy snapped.

Natsu surprised looking around and everyone seemed to agree with Lucy and tried not to make eye contact.

" I'll be going then," Lucy said walking out of he guild.

"Wait!" called a voice she turned to face Alzack and Bisca

"Thank you!" they said, " For keeping her safe," They said Asuka was there too she hadn't even realized that Happy had returned.

"It was no problem" Lucy replied " anyone would have done the same" As Lucy started again Ezra, Gray, Natsu and Happy caught up with her.

"Where are you going" Ezra asked and " can we come along"

" I think I'll be fine" Lucy said and when she a took a step Natsu held her back by grabbing the back of her hand.

"Lucy we are a team, there is no way we'd let you do something without us. I'll always be here Lucy" Natsu said

Lucy Blushed " You always know what to say!" she replied

"Plus I could never let you have fun without me" Natsu said.

"All right" Lucy obliged. She sighed, "You guys can tag along" even though it sounded like she didn't want them to come along, she could never be more thankful for better friends.

"Sooooo" Gray started " Where are we going?" he asked

" That's a surprise," Lucy giggled.


	3. An Old Friend Visits

**_They arrived in front her parents' grave…_**

" Lucy" started Natsu

"No its okay" Lucy interrupted him. " Today's my mom's birthday, and we usually go on picnics on her birthday" she explained " so I thought maybe we could have a picnic in front of their grave" she finished.

Erza stared at her then burst into tears of joy. "LUCY! Thank you for inviting me to you picnic" " I finally have a chance to re do my other ones" Erza hugged Lucy so hard she couldn't breather.

"N-n-no problem Erza" Lucy stammered she never would fully understand Erza. Lucy spread out the blanket and the set out the food. Then they all sat down and wolfed down everything. Happy hoarded the fish while Erza ate all the cake. They five of them laughed and talked and for once everything was peaceful. But that wouldn't last very long. As the day winded down Lucy said, " You guys should go home, I'm going to spend some more time here before I go home"

"Alright" gray said and the four of them left Lucy standing in front of her mom's grave.

" Wait" Natsu said once they were out of Lucy's eye distance.

"What?" Erza asked confused.

"We should wait here a while and make sure that Lucy is safe" Natsu started, what if Flare comes again picking a fight"

"You're right" Erza agreed, " We should wait a while"

Lucy stood in front of her mom's grave " Happy Birthday Mom" She had started to say when she heard a familiar voice yell " Lucy!" "Lucy? Is that you" she turned to see Michael she was so surprised.

"Oh My God! Michael" Lucy ran to hug him. He hugged back ad tightly. "How are you" " what are you doing here?" Lucy asked.

" Well I came to pay my respects to you mom too" He said.

" You always remember" Lucy replied thinking back to her birthdays as a child.

Lucy and Michael talked and laughed for quite a long time. Then suddenly he brought up her hand and kissed it and asked if she wanted to go out to dinner the next day. Though Lucy was surprised she was more than happy tot oblige. She giggled as Michael spun her around.

" I think Lucy will be fine" Erza said smiling at them

" I don't know" Natsu said, " There is something about him that just seems fishy"

" You're just jealous" Gray replied mockingly

"What did you say!" Natsu yelled at him

"Yea he Loooves her" Happy also said further annoying Natsu and then Gray and Natsu started yet another brawl yelling at each other.

"Stop it!" Erza yelled hitting them both on the head. " Can't you just be happy for Lucy" She said smiling at Lucy and Michael

"I still find something wrong I'm going to keep my eye on him" Natsu said persistently. The four of them started to walk their separate ways but Natsu couldn't seem to get his mind of Michael. He was sure that there was something wrong with him. Lucy seemed to know him from before so I wonder if he is the person he says he is and if not who is he?


	4. Friend or Foe

The Next day at the guild it was past lunch and Lucy still hadn't showed up. Natsu was getting worried she wasn't in her house either he went to check on her before and found her house empty. "Maybe we should go look for her" Natsu asked Erza for about the 100th time.

"Will you stop being so paranoid" Erza shot back " She's probably with Michael"?

"That's the problem" Natsu argued persistently " He probably said he was taking her out or something and kidnapped her!"

"Jeez and I thought Juvia had a wild imagination" Gray muttered.

"WHAT DID YOU SAY!"? Natsu yelled, before he continued Lucy walked into the guild. " Lucy you're fine!" Natsu said happily

"Of course I am" Lucy replied " I only seem to get in trouble when I'm around you" Lucy joked then added " I was with Michael he was showing me his estate"

"You say that so casually", Erza said in awe.

"Well I did grow up in one myself" Lucy retorted.

"So what's this Michael like" Mirajane asked eagerly

"Well Mira replied, he was childhood friend of mine, we grew up together and spent lots of time with each other because dad would often kick me out of the house for disturbing him." Lucy explained " When I got older my dad told me he was going to marry me off to him because he had lots of money and land, and though Michael was sweet I had never really thought of him that way and I wasn't ready to get married. My dream of joining Fairy Tail was more important than anything"

"Wow!" Mira replied " Have your feelings changed for him now, do you like him more than a friend?" she asked

Lucy blushed " Well…" she started " he's still as kind as ever and he looks pretty handsome now…"

" I think you should go for it then, I mean you should tell him how you feel before he leaves you know?" Erza said

"Wow" Lucy thought "I guess Erza would understand childhood friends like Jallal, but then again she never had the courage to tell him how she felt when they were obviously made fro each other" Lucy simply smiled at Erza not knowing what to say.

"Well God Dammit Lucy!" Natsu yelled " It's been years since you talked to the guy, I know there is something wrong with him and you should be careful, you shouldn't even talk to him"

"What are you taking about?" Lucy snapped back " I've known Michael practically my entire childhood, he was there for me when my mother died and father just ignored me all the time. It makes me wonder what you know about him?!"

"I just think you shouldn't talk to him I feel like he's connected to Flare's reappearance" Natsu argued back

"God, what do you know Natsu?!" Lucy yelled back at Natsu " You didn't even know me until a year ago!" "You know nothing about me, and it's time you stop butting yourself in my life!" Lucy yelled storming out of the guild.

"Lucy wait!" Natsu tried calling her back "I didn't mean it like that" He started to follow her when she yelled back,

"DON'T YOU DARE FOLLOW ME!"?

"Jeez you've really messed up this time" Gray said " You really should know not to get jealousy in the way of your friendship"

"I told you I'm not jealous!" Natsu yelled back.

"Wait" Juvia said with a sly smile " If Lucy likes Michael know does that mean…" She trailed of and hugged Gray " GRAY IS ALL MINEEEEEE!"

Lucy came back within an hour.

"Lucy you're back!" Natsu said cheerfully " Look…" he started then he realized Lucy wasn't alone, she had brought Michael with her.

"Hi Natsu!" Lucy said " I did some thinking about what you said, if Michael is really a bad person the people in Fairy Tail would be able to figure it out, so I brought him here" she finished

"Lulu is this Michael!?" Levy said excitedly as she ran up to them

"Yes" Lucy replied and she started introducing everyone to Michael.

Natsu was mad, Michael seemed to please everyone he was able to drink as much as Cana, quote Shakespeare like Levi, bake amazing cakes for Erza, and never commented on Gray's stripping problem. He was kind and sweet and Mirajane loved that while was still "manly" enough for Elfman to like him, he even made Asuka laugh on the first try! Auska never laughed at Natsu's jokes. He seemed to impress everyone except Natsu. How could he be the only who realizes what a bad person he was. Or was Gray right was he jealous that Lucy seemed to care for this Michael more than Natsu?

"Hi I'm Michael" Michael introduced himself " You must be Natsu Dragoneel" He continued " Lucy's told me all about you"

"I'm sure she has" Natsu replied uninterested

"You seem very important to her, she wouldn't shut up about you during our date last night" He laughed " but I think she likes me differently than you, you know" He said. " She has a big chest and cures in all the right places if you know what I mean" He laughed

Though his tone sounded like he was joking Natsu fired back " Lucy and I are Nakumara, and there's nothing you can do to change that, you perv!"

"Ok" Michael said defensively.

Natsu was angry how dare he hit on Lucy talking to me! Maybe he liked Lucy more than just a friend but no one should talk about Lucy like that! Before he could do anything Michael and Lucy we saying goodbye to everyone and left. A few hours later Natsu and Happy left to Lucy's to spend the night there since their room was such a mess. When they entered the house it was empty.

"Where could Lucy be at this hour" Happy asked his voice filled with concern.

"She left with that Michael!" Natsu growled, " I'm sure he had something to do with it…." " Come on Happy, we have to save Lucy" With that the two of them left in search of Lucy.


	5. Lucy Goes Missing

**_Natsu and Happy have spent all night looking for Lucy, but she was nowhere to be found. It seemed like they were going to need more help._**

"We have to go back to the guild!" Happy repeated for the hundredth time.

"NO!" Natsu yelled, " I won't leave without Lucy!"

"Listen Natsu, we spent all night looking for her, we should ask Gray, Erza, Wendy, and Charle for help" Happy continued.

Natsu stared at Happy for what felt like an eternity and finally gave in "Ok" He agreed "but let's make it quick". As Happy flew them back to the guild Natsu could not stop thinking about Lucy and though he didn't have telepathy magic he still though "wait for me Lucy, I'm coming".

**_Meanwhile, Lucy woke up in place that seemed vaguely familiar, but she still felt out of place…._**

Lucy's eyes fluttered opened "where am I " she thought. She tried to stand up but pain soared through her ankles and she realized her hands and feet were tied. She also noticed her keys were missing and suddenly the door flung open.

"Lucy you're awake" Said Michael " I'm glad I've been meaning to talk to you"

"Michael w-w-hat's going on?" Lucy asked confused " What are you doing?"

"I'm sorry it had to be this way Lucy" Michael replied dodging her question "I loved you as a child, and you just ran away without telling me anything!" his voice filled with anger.

"I'm sorry!" Lucy cried " but in my defense, I didn't tell anyone"

" Well it doesn't matter know" Michael said, this time much more calmly. " This place you see here is my estate, the attic of it" " My partner and I need the power of a celestial wizard to open up the gate to where all the dragons are!"

"What?!" asked Lucy appalled " I-I-I thought we were friends"

" We were" Michael said in deep thought " Many years ago, but today we face each other as enemies, because I must bring Acanalogia back!"

"You can't!" Lucy cried " He destroyed a whole magical island, he's the one who put me and my guild mates asleep for 7 full years"

"I understand" Michael said " I want to bring Acanalogia back to destroy him, he killed my family and my staff" "he left me with nothing and I will get revenge, and that is why I am using you, not only are you a powerful wizard, but you must also want to take revenge on him, he took seven years of your life!"

"I do" Lucy said "More than anything, but he's too dangerous " The strongest members of Fairy tail couldn't destroy him what makes you think that you can!"

" I will and I can" Michael said confidently " and it doesn't matter what you think, because you will die once you open the gate to the land of dragons"

"I won't help you" Lucy replied.

Michael held her face in his hand " Do you really think you can do anything about it?" Michael kicked Lucy in the face and she winced.

**_Back at the guild Natsu finished explaining everything to Gray and Erza_**

" Have you tried looking at Michaels house?" Gray asked

"Huh?" Natsu asked confused

"You idiot" Gray replied " If Lucy went missing with Michael don't you think you should look at his house"

" You are right Gray" Erza replied " Let' go make sure she's okay"

They all raced out of the guild

" See" Happy said, " I told you they would help"

"Oh shut up," Natsu said.

Lucy Natsu thought We're coming.


End file.
